One of the most common images of German Armor in the combat footage taken by Goebbel's propaganda camera men in the second half of the war in Europe, was the Assault Gun or 'Sturmgeschutz' (abbr. Stug).

From 1942 onwards it was increasingly employed as a tank destroyer, but its origin lay not in that role but in a 1936 order for an armored infantry support vehicle.

The frequency with which assault guns are filmed in action from 1944 onwards, illustrates the manner to which this vehicle was employed as a substitute for the Panzers. By the war's end assault gun units claimed the destruction of no less than 20,000 allied tanks.